Heir of Earth (Forgotten Gods) (34 page)

My mind focused with a clarity I had never felt before, opening the floodgates of memory—bringing back the hurt and pain and humiliation from years ago. My face went blank and my stomach churned with a mix of fear and desperation as the image of Amber coming at me with the scissors flashed in front of my eyes. I swallowed that fear, exhaling in one deep breath as it settled into the pit of my stomach and was quickly consumed by the fire that now burned there. I had been waiting years to get a second chance to stand up for myself, and it was finally here.

I pulled myself up to my full height, clearing my throat and flipping my hair over my shoulder, just as I had seen her do so many times. I smoothed the collar of Dayne’s jacket for effect, before I leaned over the table, meeting her glare, matching her anger.

“Here’s the thing, Tara. Mama obviously didn’t raise you right if you honestly think these games you play are going to get you anywhere in life. It’s pathetic. You’re pathetic.” I reached out and picked a white flake off her shoulder, flinging it to the floor with a flick of my fingers, my eyes never leaving hers. She sat still, frozen in anger with her muscles so rigidly drawn about her they were actually quivering. Her eyes were tiny little slits. Wrinkles bunched like crumpled newspaper at her temples and nose.

“I’ve watched you follow Dayne around like a love sick puppy dog for weeks, and you know what? He doesn’t even know your name. I didn’t steal your man. He was never yours to begin with.” I let this sink in as I stood back up, fully expecting her head to explode off her shoulders at any minute.

“I actually feel sorry for you, because
this
...” I pointed up and down her rigid body with my finger, “...is the best you’re ever going to be. The rest of us? We’re going to move on and live great lives and we’re going to forget all about you. But you? You’ve peaked. You’re not going anywhere. You’ll spend the rest of your sorry life, sitting in this same little tavern, telling ‘Remember when…’ stories and wondering where it all went. Good luck with that, Tara. Enjoy that life.”

I spun on my heel and walked calmly toward the door. The table erupted in a chorus of excited whispers and giggles.

“Um…whatever!” Tara yelled defensively at my back as I walked away. No one bothered to console her or tell her I was wrong.

“Grow up, Tara,” April seethed in an annoyed voice. She bolted from the table and caught up to me as I stepped through the tavern door to the bright sunshine filled porch.

Her hand caught the sleeve of Dayne’s oversized jacket, stopping me, turning me to face her.

“She’s wrong, you know,” April tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she looked at the waxed cotton fabric she held in her hand. “I’m not done with you,” her voice trailed off and a ghost smile touched the corner of her lips like she was trying to decide what to say next. “And I have a feeling someone else has only just
started
with you.” Her ghost smile morphed to a full-on Cheshire cat grin, and I had to bite my lip to keep from doing the same.

At that moment I didn’t know whether to throw my arms around her neck and hug her until she couldn’t breathe or break down in tears. Finally, I had a friend willing to fight for me, something I didn’t think was possible anymore.

So, I did both. We stood there on the porch of Clonlea’s tavern and hugged and cried until everyone thought we were going insane.

Rose welcomed me home with a huge pot of stew. We all sat around the table and talked about our day.

“You’re wearing your hair down. It looks lovely,” Rose admired.

“Yeah, my rubber band broke.” I instinctively swept it into a ponytail, but stopped when I remembered Dayne had made me promise to never wear it pulled back again and let it swing back into place around my shoulders.

“I’m pretty sure Dayne likes it that way, too,” Phin taunted me. I shook my head at him and rolled my eyes as a smile tugged at my lips.

Rose went to put the bread on the stoop and Cotton was sitting there as always.

“Cotton!” I had almost forgotten about him in the chaos of last night. I hoped he hadn’t slept all night on the cold stoop. “Come here boy,” I patted my legs.

He raced over to me and jumped up in my lap, covering me with doggie kisses like he never had before. “Okay, okay!” He sat down in my lap and crossed his paws, staring up at me adoringly. “I missed you, too,” I rubbed his ears. When one of his little puppy eyes winked at me I jumped up, throwing him off my lap and sending my chair crashing to the floor.

“What in the world, girl!” Phin exclaimed looking up from the newspaper he was studying silently across from me. Rose turned from the sink where she was elbow deep in dishwater.

“I thought I saw a spider,” I said quickly, hoping to cover my tracks.

“What is it with you spiders? Just smush ‘em!” Phin offered, twisting is palms together in front of him, showing me his preferred way to kill the pesky critters.

“Rolled newspaper works too,” Rose said nodding toward the paper under Phin’s hands. He offered me a section and I shook my head.

“It’s gone now,” I said unable to take my eyes off of Cotton who was standing patiently on the waxed wooden floorboards at my feet, looking up at me with eyes that were way too human to belong to a dog. “Um…I’m off to bed.” I reached down and scooped Cotton up in my arms, eyeing him suspiciously the whole way up the stairs.

When we reached the privacy of my bedroom I put the little white dog down on the floor, shut and locked the door, and stood there with my hands on my hips.

“Well?” I tapped my foot against the old wooden floor as I stared down at the little dog. He sat there looking at me like a normal dog and for a moment I thought I might be going mad. “Is it you?” I questioned, picking the little dog up and turning him all around. I held him right up to my face, our noses touching.

“If it’s you…blink your eyes,” I commanded. The fluffy little face tilted to the side and began to pant, blowing his hot puppy breath on me. Okay, I was officially crazy, but who could blame me after all the things Dayne had told me?

“Ugh!” I said with frustration under my breath so they wouldn’t hear me downstairs. I stormed down the hall to my bathroom where I brushed my teeth, washed my face and changed into pajamas.

I nearly fell backwards over the balcony railing when I opened my bedroom door and saw Dayne lounging on my bed and Cotton nowhere in sight.

“Why am I not surprised?” I said in a whisper as I shut and locked the door behind me for the second time that night. The worn out t-shirt I slept in suddenly felt tissue paper thin and I grabbed the blanket from the end of my bed and wrapped it around my shoulders as I sat down beside him.

“You really shouldn’t be by now.” He rolled over onto his side, propping his head on his hand and looking up at me triumphantly.

“It’s been you, every night?” I asked as I stared at the little fireplace in front of us and thought about every time I had unknowingly shared a bed with him.

He nodded his head. “You intrigued me. I wanted to know more.” He shrugged his shoulders and gave me a sheepish look. “This was the only way I knew.” He reached out and played with the fingers of my hand resting on the bed between us. “Are you mad?”

I was too busy thinking about all the nights I had snuggled around Cotton, wishing it was Dayne. I blushed when I remembered that I had changed in front of him too.

“Wait a minute, Dayne. Cotton showed up like the first week I was here.” I turned to him, bending my knee between us on Rose’s handmade quilt covering my bed.

He nodded his head. “You’re mad.” He bit his lip and played with a loose thread on the quilt.

“Yes, I am.” I crossed my arms, whispering as angrily as I could so they wouldn’t hear us downstairs.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean deceive you.” His finger traced over and brushed against my knee.

“I don’t care about that,” I said softly, reaching down to the finger that lay on my knee. “I’m mad that you’ve felt this way for so long and never told me. Think about all the time we wasted!”

He laughed and sat up to face me. “I guess I broke the whole “No magic” thing, huh?” He played with a loose curl that hung down over my shoulder.

“Yeah, I was thinking about that.” I reached up and took the curl from his fingers. “How about we do normal stuff during the day and we can do magic stuff at night?” I had realized during dinner that if Dayne didn’t use his magic I would only see him during the day, like normal people. I liked our nights together. There was something dangerously thrilling about sharing my nights with a fairy.

“I think that sounds like a very good compromise.” He stood up and went to the door, placing his ear against it and listening. “I think the coast is clear,” he whispered from across the room.

“Well, I have to change,” I looked down at the worn out t-shirt I was wearing. He retrieved the navy hoodie with ‘St Anne’s College’ emblazoned on the front from the arm of my chair.

“Put this on,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me to my feet. “You’ll be fine where we’re going.” He gathered the hem of the sweatshirt up to the neckline and tugged it over my head. I smiled and played along as he guided my hands up to the armholes. Being dressed by Dayne? That was certainly an exciting first.

“Where are we going?” I asked, interlacing my fingers in his.

“Home,” he said with a smile.

The world whirred away and when I opened my eyes it was dark.

“Where are we?” I blinked my eyes trying to see through the haze.

“Ennishlough’s great hall. You’re doing much better with the traveling.” He steadied me just a bit as he untangled himself from me.

“Is it safe?” The ornate texture of the heavily carved wood began to come into focus around me. Furniture polish, old wool and rich wooden scents hung heavily in the air, mixed with my favorite perfume of all...Dayne.

“It is when you’re with me.” His voice was excited, but my heart sank at the thought of never really being completely safe in his house.

We stood in a long hallway. Carved wood made columns at intervals along the wall and reached high overhead to form archways that stretched across the ceiling to each other. In the wide alcoves created by these massive columns, giant life-sized oil paintings hung in heavily gilt frames. The hallway would have been as dark and ominous as a gang plank if it hadn’t been for the brightly colored wool rugs cushioning our feet.

As I walked down the hall, studying the faces in front of me, I saw why Dayne wanted me to wear my hair down. The women were painfully beautiful and they all had hair similar to mine, but reaching almost down to the ground around them. Sections were braided and curled, ornaments were pinned in here and there—as if they needed any extra decoration to be beautiful.

They all had the most flawless complexions, perfectly smooth in creamy shades of white and tan. Their eyes sparkled with a gemstone luster so radiant they could have sat atop a queen’s head. One woman stood out from the rest. She had bright red hair, more beautiful than any natural shade or box blend on this earth. It was the color of a red lava flow, snaking its way down her back. Her eyes were purple, the shade of a priceless tanzanite stone I had seen at a museum.

“Who’s she?” I stared at the painting, unable to take my eyes away from her.

“That is Daoine, our Queen.” Dayne’s hand went to his heart, and he bowed his head slightly.

“Royalty?” My whispered voice carried down the hallway. She certainly looked regal standing before me, but they all did. I looked at the man beside her. His handsomeness matched her beauty, in his own masculine way. He had a shock of curls, a few shades darker than hers, and eyes of the deepest sapphire blue. I pointed to him and looked at Dayne.

“Finvanna, our king.” Again, Dayne placed his hand to his chest and bowed his head slightly. I had never seen him like this. He was somber, almost aloof, as he went through the ceremony of respect, obviously bound by honor and obligation to respect his leaders.

The next painting didn’t look as old. The paint wasn’t faded at all and her clothes were more modern than the costume party attire the others wore. A simple white gown billowed around her, just sheer enough to show her curvaceous body underneath. Her hair was blonde, like mine, with streaks of Daoine’s bright red tangled in here and there. Her eyes were emerald, like Dayne’s, shining against the palest of skin. Full, ruby-red lips parted in a smile and her eyes looked out so adoringly I thought for a moment she might walk out of the painting and hug me like I was her best friend.